I hope you had a wonderful holiday and have settled back into work. We are already 11 days into January 2016 and I am asking myself, “What is truly going to make this year different than 2015?” I know it is a new year. And I know I am ready for a year of good health and well-being. That is the most important on my list. But when I sit here and think that I have been doing this job as CEO of Office Dynamics and being a trainer, speaker and coach for more than 25 years, I wonder “What is going to be different this year?” Don’t get me wrong as I love my work and what I do but after a while I can perform a lot of areas of my work with my eyes closed.

I can crank out lengthy proposals in a few hours; I can pinpoint areas of challenge for executives and assistants in a few hours; I can rattle off 100 ideas on how to be a star performing assistant in no time. It’s really easy. I bet you feel the same way about many aspects of your job and your home life.

I think a very important thought to keep in mind is to not become complacent. As good as we are at our jobs, relating to others, and our careers, we need to know there is more. That is the essence of life. That is what excites and motivates us. If this is all there is, it’s not very motivating. Life becomes ho-hum and so do we.

Here are some questions I am asking myself and that will help you determine what will make this year different: